


Vertigo

by jinzou_enemy



Series: Flux [5]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Drama, anzu is mentioned but not important enough to tag, it can be seen as pre-slash though?, takes place during wishing live!, this is tagged madakao but it's not romantic in the slightest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 10:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20947211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinzou_enemy/pseuds/jinzou_enemy
Summary: "11. Imagine your OTP stuck in an elevator after they’ve had a fight."





	Vertigo

**Author's Note:**

> Kaoru's always had an aversion to hospitals. Anzu being bedridden, as well as an unfortunate run in with Madara, does not make that likely to change anytime soon.

Kaoru leaves Anzu’s room in a fairly good mood, albeit slightly muted from the situation the girl is in.  
  
His stomach had been churning with nausea from the moment he entered the room, news of what had happened to her making his head spin.  
  
Even though it had undoubtedly been Anzu in that hospital bed, his vision had decided to think otherwise, layering old memories atop the present. Kaoru can only hope that his initial discomfort hadn’t been too noticeable. 

It was a feeling that had slowly faded as they continued to talk, vanishing almost completely at the sight of her expression once he brought out the flower box he had made for her. It hadn’t been a _ smile,_ per say, but he knew that he wouldn’t have to wait much longer to see one on her face once more.  
  
His good mood was short lived, unfortunately, when he turns the corner to head for the elevator, only to see a head of brown a bit ahead of him.

It’s not like Madara was doing anything bad. He actually seems to be heading the same way Kaoru is, if the way he enters the elevator is anything to go by. 

Maybe it’s just the pent up negative emotions in his chest, swirling and coating his insides, making him feel sick. Maybe it’s the fact that Madara had helped Anzu first, while Kaoru hadn’t even known about it until the poor girl was already admitted to the hospital.  
  
Regardless, he finds himself reluctant to enter the elevator with Madara. He has no other choice in the end, though, not having the patience to wait for a different one, nor walk down the many flights of stairs to the ground floor.  
  
Madara, having already spotted Kaoru, gives him a cheerful wave as the blonde makes himself comfortable as far from Madara as possible.  
  
Kaoru rolls his eyes, lazily waving back. If Madara had a problem with his lack of enthusiasm, he didn’t bring it up.  
  
The silence in the elevator felt _ way _ too stifling. 

At least it had that in common with all the hallways they had just come from.

He takes a sideways glance over to Madara, and when it looks like he isn’t going to press the button, Kaoru does the honors. 

Madara taps his foot rhythmically, seemingly trying to fill up empty space. It echoes out from where the doors are still open, into the hallways. It thunders in the quiet between them, _ around them, _ amplifying until it feels like a sledgehammer against Kaoru’s skull. 

He can barely stand it. 

“Mikejima-kun, d’you think you could just stand still? All that fidgeting is getting kinda annoying~.” The tension in his voice is hidden fairly well, but it strains and scratches at his throat, begging to seep into his tone. 

“Is it now? My bad, my bad! I just can’t find it in myself to stand still! Maybe it’s the nerves? I _ did _ spend a fair amount of time by Anzu-san’s bedside, and I had to be quiet for her.”

Kaoru snorts. Yeah, _ sure. _ He guesses that even if Madara had been constantly coming and going, it still technically counts as being there often.  
  
The door finally slides shut, and Kaoru shakes his head clear of the mist of thoughts that had begun to creep in.

“Right, well, could you stop?”  
  
Madara hums for a second, seemingly giving it thought, before sending Kaoru a bright grin.  
  
“Let us strike up a conversation, then!” ...Really? Kaoru sends the other boy a flat stare, but Madara doesn’t seem phased in the slightest, continuing as if there was no reason for him to pause in the first place. “There would be no point in standing here in silence, would there?” Actually, there _ would _, but he doesn’t think he could get that through to Madara in the timespan of an elevator trip. 

“Sure. Why not?” He leans back against one of the handrails. 

“I was actually pretty surprised to see you spending so little time at Anzu-chan’s side. I thought you’d be one of the people glued to her bedside~? I’ve seen you flitter in and out, here and there...but you never stay for long. You’re more committed to this whole live than I thought~.”

Madara blinks at him slowly, and Kaoru can practically see the cogs turning inside the other’s brain. It’s strange to see him act so careful, when Kaoru has only caught glimpses of those layers underneath before now. 

He seems to think on it for a bit before replying, his words slow and deliberate. “Well, it’s partially my fault for not paying closer attention to her health. It’s why I want this to be a success; so that she can at least see that we’re thankful for everything that she’s done, and return to her work with a smile!” 

There’s a glint in his eyes that isn’t quite as mischievous as it usually is, a glint that burns low, making something inside Kaoru shift.

He raises an eyebrow. “Well, I think that she deserves a bit more rest than that. I understand the desire to see her hard at work,” Madara raises an eyebrow, but Kaoru ignores him and continues, eyes drifting to how the floor number steadily ticks down, “But she deserves a break every now and then…~”  
  
It’s taking _ way _ too long for this elevator to reach the ground floor. He really should’ve just taken the stairs, huh.  
  
When he looks up again, he’s surprised to see Madara’s mouth flattened into a straight line. The warmth is still there in his eyes, but it feels...colder, somehow.  
  
“Do you even know her properly, Kaoru-san? We both realise that Anzu-san is going to want to get stuck back into her work as soon as possible. The only thing we can do is to help her pace herself, so that this doesn’t happen again. ”  
  
He lets out a surprised bark. “For you of all people to say that. Colour me surprised~. You’d seemed like the type to care for her health above everything else, but I guess not?”  
  
And there goes any friendliness that had been leftover in his eyes. It’s interesting, Kaoru notes, how Madara’s expression hasn’t changed at all besides that, smile still intact.  
  
The elevator stutters slightly. 

“For someone who’s Anzu-chan’s childhood friend, that’s a pretty callous thing to say,” Kaoru drawls, waiting for the other’s reaction, “If I knew any better, I’d say that you two aren’t childhood friends at all, hm~?” 

It’s really just a jab out of misplaced frustration, but the statement seems to hit deeper than he had thought it would.  
  
Madara’s face twists at the words; as if he’s just swallowed something sour.  
  
His posture becomes rigid. The smile and cheer he had been draping himself in, now gone. Seeing his classmate like this was starting to make Kaoru panic, but he stayed firm. ‘At least keep calm until you don’t have to see him anymore,’ Kaoru told himself, but he couldn’t help the yelp that escaped him when the elevator jolted a little.

A feeling of dread began to uncurl in his stomach as the elevator jolted again, before coming to a complete stop.  
  
The lights flickered; one, twice, then off. 

While Kaoru looked around in disbelief, Madara doesn’t seem to care, unfazed by the alarming situation they find themselves in.  
  
Kaoru’s eyes snap forward as Madara begins to approach him. Each step is methodical and slow. An attempt to intimidate him? It works, if that was the point. His focus slowly drifts to Madara, his other thoughts turning to static in his head.  
  
Even as his heart jumps into his throat, he puts on an impassive face.  
  
“What? Did I hit a soft spot, there?” He keeps his tone relaxed and easy, as if they were talking about the weather, and not the apparently questionable nature of Madara and Anzu’s supposed childhood friendship. 

He knows that he could drop the topic (and in fact, he probably should), but Kaoru finds himself curious. This is a side of Madara that he’s never seen, and even if it’s starting to scare the shit out of him, it was still _ interesting. _

Though his vision was starting to adjust, he could still only see Madara’s silhouette. Maybe it was because he wasn’t able to see the other’s expression, that it made it so easy for more words to slip out; to continue goading. 

“No wonder Kanata-kun hardly talks to you, if this is how you treat your other ‘childhood’ friend- if that’s what you two even _ are _\--” Kaoru cuts off with a wheeze, the breath knocked out of him as his back hits the wall. 

Madara’s forearm feels like a weight across his chest, and Kaoru’s glad he hadn’t decided to choke him instead. Even without that, he feels a certain amount of breathlessness at how he can only stand on his toes, pinned too far up the wall to be fully grounded.

The handrail digs into his lower back from how hard he's being pressed against it. Any longer, Kaoru thinks distractedly, and it might leave a bit of a bruise. 

Madara’s eyes seem to glint in the dark as they fix him with a glare. 

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Kaoru-san. You’d best stop while you can still speak ♪.”

“What? Or you’ll _ hurt _ me?” Kaoru’s tone comes out mocking, though he hopes none of the hysteria he’s beginning to feel seeps in. The way the words sound a bit hoarse was already bad enough. “Don’t aim for my face, at least; you wouldn’t want the aftermath of this situation to be _ too _ obvious, now would you~? I thought you had more subtlety than that, Mikejima-kun.” 

He thinks on it for a little longer, before adding, “Oh, and my fans wouldn’t be too happy~.”

The pressure that had been steadily increasing on his chest abruptly comes to a halt, and Kaoru pays more attention to the expression on Madara’s face. Strangely enough, Madara seems to be amused. He still seems angry, of course, but it actually seems to die down, if the way the brunette doesn’t seem to be as upset as Kaoru is sure it was initially is anything to go by.

He’s let down with a thump, and Kaoru slides to the floor, legs too shaky to hold him up. As he takes in small gulps of air, his face burns in embarrassment. Was he seriously that weak, that his knees buckled after such a simple confrontation?

The fact stands that they _ did _, however, so he tries to subtly make himself less pathetic, and adjusts into a more comfortable sitting position. 

His eyes now a bit more adjusted than they were earlier, he realises that Madara, _ for whatever reason, _has decided to plop himself down maybe less than a metre or so away from him. 

As he slowly calms his breathing, the reality of the situation starts to sink in, and Kaoru’s heart thuds once more, easy to notice when all he can see is dark. 

“We...should probably use the emergency phone to call security, huh.” He hears an affirmative hum in response, and that, more than anything, is what makes him more nervous. Both from what he’s seen and what he’s heard; Madara’s never seemed like one to use non-verbal responses, so it put Kaoru on edge to hear one.

Deciding not to think about it too hard, Kaoru lets his head gently thud back against the metal behind him, eyes sliding shut as he can hear Madara shuffle to get up once more. He lets the sounds wash over him as he tries to relax himself once more.  
  
It’s jarring to hear Madara slip back into how he usually sounds, and his loud voice bounces off the walls of their confined space. Kaoru barely processes whatever conversation that seems to be going on, words going in through one ear and out the other. 

He’s only shaken from his haze, eyes blinking open, when Madara comes back, sitting even closer than he did before. He doesn’t know how much time has passed. How long was Madara on the line with security? He supposed that it didn’t matter much, in the grand scheme of things. From the corner of his eye, Kaoru can see Madara shuffle close enough to be only an arms length away, if he was to estimate. 

The tense atmosphere of only moments before is gone now, dissipating along with the tension that had lined Kaoru’s body. Despite that, it’s still silent, and more than a little awkward. He parts his mouth to speak, only to hear Madara begin to talk instead. 

“About before; I hope you’re alright? Mama didn’t mean to use sooo much of his strength, y’see..” He laughs and scratches his face sheepishly, but Kaoru isn’t sure how genuine it is. People don’t just change their tune so easily in such a small amount of time. Or maybe Madara’s an exception to that, an unpredictable storm of chaos that can be soft around the edges one moment, but cuttingly sharp the next.

Kaoru feels a headache coming on from all the smoke and mirrors. 

For just a split second, he can see the way that Madara scans over his expression, searching for something that Kaoru isn’t sure what, before continuing. “Aside from that, you have a pretty uncanny amount of luck for guessing things, Kaoru-san! Or is it that maybe I’m not as subtle about it as I thought?

“Subtle about what, exactly?” 

He already has the slightest of inklings, but he’d rather hear it straight from Madara’s mouth. Then again, Kaoru is doubtful that he’ll get a straight answer. Madara is already being pretty generous with the information he’s giving out freely. 

As he expected, Madara raises an eyebrow at his reply, teasing. 

“You’re a smart guy; I’m suuure you can figure that out with the clues I’ve given you! Consider it a reward for taking part in this live!”  
  
“I’m participating of my own free will, though? Anzu-chan’s adorable smile is all I need as reward~. Plus, that’s a pretty bad compensation fee, if I _ was _ taking you at face value.” Kaoru even emphasises his point with a poke to the brunette’s shoulder, and he nearly lets out a huff at how Madara squawks. 

He’s about to needle for more information, curiosity seeping back into his head; but the sudden flickering of lights, coupled with the elevator stirring to life once more makes the words stick themselves in his throat. 

Standing abruptly, Kaoru brushes off any dust that may have begun to cling to his pants from his time on the floor. He’s spent enough time enough time in this elevator with Madara, and he’s just about at his limit. Madara eyes him from where he’s still on the floor, before getting up as well.

It isn’t long before the doors open with a ‘ding!’. Kaoru immediately goes to leave, though he keeps his pace at an amble.

He nearly chokes when he feels an arm sling itself over his shoulder, taking a couple of stumbling steps forward to brace himself. 

“Well that was a good talk, Kaoru-san!” _ Was it, though? _ If he tries hard enough, Kaoru can still feel the pressure against his upper chest. _ “ _Keep in touch! I’ll see you at the live~.” And with a wink, Madara bounds ahead of him, energy barely kept in check. 

Kaoru watches him leave, his own pace too slow to catch up, even if he wanted to. Around him, the hospital is surprisingly quiet. 

Without another person to help buffer it, the cold feeling that had rested against his skin this morning begins to set in again, and Kaoru shakes his limbs out. Not that it helps much. He picks up his pace a bit. He’s already been here for way too long, outside of visiting Anzu.

His steps gradually pick up their speed, the time that it’s taking to get to the exit feeling like an eternity. When the glass doors finally slide open for him to exit, outside feels like a refreshing relief from the stale air inside the hospital. He tries to keep it subtle, with the way he starts to take deeper inhales, eager to get away from the stench of antiseptic. 

The sun that hits his skin as he continues to walk down the street is satisfying, and he’s glad that it’s at least a good day outside. He wouldn’t say that Madara ruined his mood, per say, but he’s definitely in a stranger space of mind than he had first been when he entered the building. 

“‘See you at the live’, he says…” Kaoru mumbled to himself, “I’ve barely even seen him around practice, so what makes him think that we’ll even get a chance to talk on the actual day? Mikejima-kun, you’re wa~y too strange…” 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm alive! and back at it again with more madakao! :) 
> 
> i wouldn't say this is explicitly romantic AT ALL, but it's still their dynamic and what i want to explore, so it's going into this prompt fill series! it's something a little different from the usual pre-slash flirting, or the fluff of their established relationship, but i hope you guys enjoyed this regardless! ^O^


End file.
